Woohoo! I'm still smart. =)
LOL sorta. Maybe. Or it was just a damn easy test. I got my test results back last night for the exam I took last week. I got an A, only missed two questions out of 35. I have to brag a little here, because I feel like a horrible person bragging anywhere else. I saw a lot of students who I know studied a lot more than I did who got lesser grades, including one girl who got a low C. I think she and her study partner actually over study, to the point where they start to really overanalyze the questions. I really don't understand how she got such a low grade, since before the test I overheard her and her partner reviewing, and I almost panicked because I didn't recognize some of the things they were going over. I almost feel a little guilty for getting an A, because I really didn't study much until the weekend before my test on Tuesday, and really buckled down and studied all day Tuesday.
This next test I'm going to do the right way. I'm going to study each chapter as it comes up, not save everything to the last minute (even though it seems to work pretty well for me). I don't think I understood things as well as I should in order to have mastered the material... I think the tests basically just test us on being familiar with the material, not knowing it.
What I'm really worried about is the very last test - our critical thinking exam. I'm doing great on the knowledge tests. I'm great at concrete things. But our last exam consists of taking a randomly assigned scenario of a nursing situation, and writing out a care plan using no books or any other materials. I need to start writing out more care plans, because I'm still at the level where I need to use all of my books even in order to start diagnosing the problem, let alone creating a plan to address the problem. And my professor hasn't given me feedback on either of the two care plans I turned in for the practice scenarios we've been given. So I really have no idea how I'm doing. For all I know, I'm completely off track.
At the back of my head is the standardized test we have to take at the end. On that test, the questions will be based on anything in our books within the concepts that we have covered. It's not based on what we cover in class, it's not based on what the teacher says in her slides, it's standardized - what any nursing student, anywhere is expected to know, basically. So I'm a little nervous that I won't recognize the material, but at the same time, I use the review materials provided by the company that issues the test, so I think I should be fine. At the same time, it's only worth 5% of the grade. They're always telling us not to knock that 5%, because it can make or break you, as they say, but I have a B and two A's so far, just one test left to go, and hopefully I got all six points of extra credit on my project, so I don't think the 5% should make too much difference. Might knock me down to a B instead of an A, but that wouldn't be the end of the world... I just have to weigh the importance of my letter grade against the difficulty of my other class, which is pass or fail.
Anyway... enough of my thinking in writing. I could go on for pages and pages, and bore whoever reads it to tears.
This next test I'm going to do the right way. I'm going to study each chapter as it comes up, not save everything to the last minute (even though it seems to work pretty well for me). I don't think I understood things as well as I should in order to have mastered the material... I think the tests basically just test us on being familiar with the material, not knowing it.
What I'm really worried about is the very last test - our critical thinking exam. I'm doing great on the knowledge tests. I'm great at concrete things. But our last exam consists of taking a randomly assigned scenario of a nursing situation, and writing out a care plan using no books or any other materials. I need to start writing out more care plans, because I'm still at the level where I need to use all of my books even in order to start diagnosing the problem, let alone creating a plan to address the problem. And my professor hasn't given me feedback on either of the two care plans I turned in for the practice scenarios we've been given. So I really have no idea how I'm doing. For all I know, I'm completely off track.
At the back of my head is the standardized test we have to take at the end. On that test, the questions will be based on anything in our books within the concepts that we have covered. It's not based on what we cover in class, it's not based on what the teacher says in her slides, it's standardized - what any nursing student, anywhere is expected to know, basically. So I'm a little nervous that I won't recognize the material, but at the same time, I use the review materials provided by the company that issues the test, so I think I should be fine. At the same time, it's only worth 5% of the grade. They're always telling us not to knock that 5%, because it can make or break you, as they say, but I have a B and two A's so far, just one test left to go, and hopefully I got all six points of extra credit on my project, so I don't think the 5% should make too much difference. Might knock me down to a B instead of an A, but that wouldn't be the end of the world... I just have to weigh the importance of my letter grade against the difficulty of my other class, which is pass or fail.
Anyway... enough of my thinking in writing. I could go on for pages and pages, and bore whoever reads it to tears.